Fighting famine in East and Central Africa: Ethiopia

Ethiopia faces a serious food crisis after consecutive rain failures in 2015, combined with erratic El Niño weather conditions. In the past two years, almost every part of Ethiopia has experienced below average rainfall. Pastoralist communities in southern and south-eastern lowland areas have suffered heavy livestock losses and reduced access to food. Malnutrition rates are rising across the country. There are now 7.7 million people in need of food assistance – an increase of 2.2 million people since 2016. Water shortages are exacerbating the ongoing acute watery diarrhoea outbreak, particularly in the Somali region where there is a concurrent measles outbreak.

Document data

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world's largest humanitarian network and is guided by seven Fundamental Principles: Humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, universality and unity.